


Double Life

by Engineer104



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff, Non-Graphic Violence, Scams, for the plance zine, very little though!, yeah i have no idea what to tag this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-08
Updated: 2018-06-08
Packaged: 2019-05-18 11:57:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,312
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14852324
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Engineer104/pseuds/Engineer104
Summary: By day, they’re a secretive criminal-entrapping hacker and her minion; by night, they’re a flashy magician - excuse me,escape artist- and his ‘brilliant’ assistant.





	Double Life

**Author's Note:**

> Originally written for the [Rainforest Zine](http://plance-zine.tumblr.com/), which you should check out everyone else's entries for too!
> 
> Much love and appreciation to the mods for organizing the zine and giving me the opportunity to participate!! and, also, thank you to [Softie](https://literal-soft-rock-come-pet-me.tumblr.com/) and [blue-hawkeye](https://blue-hawkeye.tumblr.com/) and Mod S for beta-reading!! without them this fic would not be what it is, so...enjoy!! <3
> 
>  
> 
> ~~i STILL hate the title to this fic...RIP~~

**** Katie clasped her hands on the table that separated her from her client. “So,” she said, narrowing her eyes at him, “do you want the tech or not?”

“Yes,” he said, though he made no move to transfer any money to her account.

“Are you skimping on my pay?”

“Of course not, Gunderson,” he said, glowering. He tapped at his lapel pin. “My organization keeps its word.”

Katie slowly smirked as Haxus slipped her flash drive into a blazer pocket. He booted up his laptop and, within moments, her phone vibrated, notifying her of a substantial sum transferred to her ‘business’ account.

“Thank you, Haxus, for paying for my next vacation.”

Haxus grimaced but nodded; he likely thought his  _ organization  _ should employ its own hackers instead of contracting someone from outside. “Thank you for the coffee, Gunderson,” he said, tapping the cup on the table between them.

Katie raised her empty cup, miming a toast. “Cheers. It was a pleasure doing business with you.” She stood and left the building after tossing her cup away.

A cold breeze nipped at her, light snowfall filling the air. Flakes of ice melted as they touched her skin. Katie shivered, holding herself stiffly while she walked the few blocks to where her driver awaited her.

Katie’s satisfied smirk softened when the small, nondescript white sedan came into view. She picked up her pace, but then the icy ground slipped out from under her.

Her arms flailed as she fought gravity, fighting to regain her balance while the air rushed past her. Heart pounding, she flinched away from the ground.

Katie gasped when a strong pair of arms caught her, and a familiar face obscured much of the gray sky from view.

“Looks like you fell for me,” Lance said, the corner of his mouth lifting.

Katie snorted and stood upright. “How many times are you going to use that line?”

Lance narrowed his eyes at her and poked her warm cheek. “That depends. How many times are you going to keep blushing when I do?”

Katie covered her face and shook her head. “At least my face is warm.”

“Thanks to me,” Lance said. “Now, let’s get the rest of you warm.” He wrapped an arm around her and steered her towards the car idling on the curb.

The car’s interior was toasty compared to winter’s bite, and Katie gratefully shed her coat as Lance pulled the car onto the road.

“So with the money from  _ this  _ job,” Lance wondered, sending her a hopeful glance, “do we have enough to get a new car?”

“I  _ like  _ this car,” Katie said, wiping a smudge of dust off the dashboard. “I have so many fond memories in it.” She knocked a knuckle on a discoloration under the window. “Remember that time I spilled coffee?”

“Oh, yeah.” Lance frowned. “It took way too long to clean it up.”

“And can’t forget the time you sprayed  _ cologne  _ in here to cover up the smell of Hunk’s worst dish ever.” Katie propped her elbow on the armrest. “The cologne smelled worse than the food.”

Lance wrinkled his nose. “Not my brightest idea,” he conceded.

“But anyway,” Katie said as she pulled her feet onto the seat, “how about a vacation instead?”

* * *

The news played on the radio in the background, the announcer’s voice filled with static.

Katie wrapped her arms around Lance from behind, pressing her forehead against the spot between his shoulder blades. 

“You hear that, Lance?”

_ “...a virus hidden inside a security protocol intended to expose the so-called Empire and their innermost workings. Law enforcement revealed that a Mr. Haxus bought the hidden virus from a hacker that goes by the name Pidge Gunderson…” _

Lance patted her hand where it lay on his stomach. “All thanks to me, right?”

Katie grinned, choosing to play along. “Sure, all thanks to my favorite evil minion.”

* * *

Lance loved the sound of applause and everything it brought, from the anticipation thrumming in his veins to the grin tugging at the corners of his lips. But now was not the time to smile, not in the midst of a performance that demanded drama and flair.

He held his arms up, gesturing towards Katie as she carried a straitjacket onto the stage. “And now I present to you the straitjacket that will bind me”--he smirked, winking at his audience--”and my brilliant assistant who will do the honors of securing it!”

(He preferred to call Katie  _ lovely,  _ if only to see her blush, but she insisted on ‘brilliant’.)

Lance watched as Katie approached. Her eyes twitched in that familiar way that meant she resisted the urge to roll them while she stretched the straitjacket between her hands.

Lance breathed deeply, shifting his posture and tucking his arms against his chest. “Nice and tight, right, Pidge?” he said, using her old stage name.

Katie frowned at him.

“Ack,  _ Pidge _ !” he complained when she tugged too tight on the straitjacket, an impish grin on her face.

Katie crossed her arms. “I’d like to see you get out of  _ that _ .”

The audience shifted, murmuring in concern or curiosity.

Lance relaxed, the straitjacket loosening as he exhaled. He sent a confident, winning smile at the audience. “Oh, this is  _ nothing _ ! Anyone want to bet how long it’ll take me to escape?”

Members of the audience shouted guesses, anything from thirty seconds to a whole hour - which made Katie snort and grumble that it  _ better  _ not take him an hour.

“It seems the consensus is  _ five  _ minutes, eh, Pidge?” Lance glanced at his brilliant assistant.

Katie nodded. “So it seems.” 

She disappeared behind the back curtain, returning with a chair that she set down for him. She nudged him backwards, her small hand on his shoulder, until the backs of his knees hit the seat.

Lance sat, and Katie even went so far as to lean down and kiss his cheek. He flushed red when she withdrew and smirked at him, and he cleared his throat when she signaled to Hunk, just off-stage, to lower the front curtain.

His microphone clicked off, and Lance stared wide-eyed at the curtain after Katie, who stood on the stage to verify that he received no assistance with his challenge. But after a few stunned seconds, he sprang into action, twisting his arms and poking them out of the bottom of the straitjacket.

Lance hummed in concentration as he worked the straps, noting that Katie _had_ , in fact, secured them tighter than usual. It wasn’t enough to deter him, but enough to slow him. After a minute of wriggling, Lance dropped the straitjacket and took his phone out, leaning back. He smiled smugly as he opened Instagram to pass the time.

It took several minutes for the audience beyond to shift and grumble their impatience. Not long after, he heard Katie’s voice join them, announcing, “What could  _ possibly  _ be taking Lance so long?”

Lance titled the chair backwards, snorting at a funny photo his sister posted right as Hunk lifted the curtain.

The audience gasped, though they shouldn’t have expected anything less. Lance glanced up nonchalantly, eyes widening in comic surprise when he saw them staring.

“Pidge, you interrupted my well-earned break!” he accused.

Katie tapped her foot. “You kept your audience waiting.”

“I can’t have that,” Lance agreed with a theatrical sigh. He let the chair fall back to solid ground and stuffed his phone into his pocket, then stood up and took Katie’s hand. They bowed to applause, and he smiled, pleased with his performance.

Hunk lowered the curtain again, and Lance rounded on Katie. “What was that kiss on the cheek for?”

“For good luck, obviously.”

“But you’ve never kissed me on-stage before!” Lance sputtered.

“After yesterday, I’m feeling pretty affectionate.” Katie smiled the sort of smile that made his insides melt.

He laughed and rubbed the back of his neck.

“Why do you like the straitjacket trick anyway?” Katie wondered. “I know you prefer things with a little more”--she formed air quotes with her fingers--” _ razzle-dazzle _ .”

“Maybe I like the classics too?”

Katie crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. “The audience likes it more than you do.”

“...that too,” Lance conceded, “but I  _ do  _ still have fun with it.”

Katie gently smacked his cheek, making him smile. “I know you do. I just thought you’d want to celebrate with something a little  _ flashier _ after yesterday.”

“That was  _ your  _ victory, Katie.”

She grinned, but then Hunk approached them with a water bottle.

“How’s everything going?” Lance inquired.

“Better than usual!” Hunk said. “Your timing is great - you ended  _ perfectly  _ \- and so long as you keep intermission at ten minutes you should end at the right time too.”

Katie took the water bottle from him and drank. “The lighting is good today too.”

“I’m glad to hear that,” Hunk said. He frowned, tapping a finger against his leg, and admitted, “There’s someone here with a delivery for you, Katie. He’s waiting in the dressing room.”

Katie glanced at Lance, a question in her eyes, but he shrugged at her. “Thanks, Hunk. I’ll talk to him in a minute.”

Hunk withdrew, wandering off to check on some other stage manager task.

Katie handed Lance the water bottle and asked, “Who do you think it is?”

Lance shrugged again. “Go find out?”

“I’m about to. See you on-stage?”

Lance nodded, smiling wider when she stood on her toes to kiss his cheek. She picked the discarded straitjacket up and walked away, heels clicking on the hardwood. He couldn’t help admiring the glittering sleeveless green dress she wore as she left.

The familiar sounds of stagehands rearranging props met his ears, and Lance joined them, assisting one in lifting a crate for his next act. He joked with them and complimented the designer’s taste when she exchanged his blue blazer for a red jacket.

Lance stood in the wings as intermission ended, waiting for Pidge to return.

She didn’t.

Lance looked from the heavy scarlet curtain to the hallway, frowning when Pidge still didn’t appear. He tapped his foot, growing impatient and wondering what kept her. Did deliveries usually take this long?

Hunk returned, raising both brows when he reached Lance. “Where’s Pidge?”

“I don’t know.” Lance sighed. “I have a bad feeling about this. Can you stall?”

Hunk laughed nervously. “I can  _ try _ .”

“Thanks, buddy.” Lance patted his shoulder as he walked towards the dressing room.

He halted between the props and the dressing rooms at the sound of raised voices.

“... _ your  _ fault!” a deep, unfamiliar voice bellowed.

“How do you know?” Katie demanded.

“ _ You’re  _ Gunderson!”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about!”

Lance held his breath, heart thumping painfully in his chest. He crept towards the open dressing room, resisting the urge to burst in and  _ fight  _ whoever frightened Katie enough for her to sound like  _ that _ .

“Oh,  _ crow _ ,” Lance hissed when he peeked inside.

A broad-shouldered man with an eyepatch directed a gun at Katie, whose back was to the wall. She held her hands up, her head high and defiant as she faced down a crazy guy with a  _ gun _ .

Blood rushing, Lance ducked back around the doorway, frantically running through his options. He needed to call the police,  _ obviously _ , but something else had to be done  _ now _ .

He backtracked to the props room, hyper-aware of the clock ticking as he threw the door open and scanned the cluttered shelves for something useful. He smirked - without humor - at the sight of the prop bow and blunt arrows used for his William Tell skit; this would be just like that, wouldn’t it?

Lance grabbed the bow and two arrows off the shelf, fumbling them in his hurry. He didn’t duck or hide when he stood in the dressing room doorway again, not when the one-eyed man held the gun to Katie’s head.

Lance held up the bow, breathing deeply to steady his shaky nerves, and aimed the blunt arrow. But the second arrow slipped out from under his arm, clattering to the ground, and the intruder looked up.

Lance loosed the string as their eyes met.

The arrow struck the man in the center of the forehead, a perfect shot that knocked him backwards, but Lance didn’t savor his triumph. He joined Katie, blinking in surprise when she wrestled the gun from the shocked intruder’s hands and pointed it at him.

“Lance?”

Lance sighed in relief when she appeared unharmed, only a few strands of hair loose from her careful styling. “Are you all right?”

“I’m fine.” she glared at her attacker, who glared back...though he looked less menacing rubbing the angry red mark between his eyes. “We need to secure him and call the police.”

“Secure him, you say?” Lance smirked as he grabbed the straitjacket off the dressing room table. “I’ve got just the thing.”

* * *

“You’re the magician that shot Sendak?”

Katie giggled as Lance’s eye twitched, but he still smiled at the policeman. “I prefer the term  _ escape artist _ .”

The policeman didn’t even blink. “Are you or not?”

Lance tried to make an annoyed retort, but Hunk cut him off and said, “Yes! He is!”

The policeman rolled his eyes. “Thanks to you, that’s one more Empire thug in handcuffs.” He glanced at Katie and added, “I’m sorry he did that, ma’am. He must be getting desperate if he thinks you’re that famous hacker.”

Katie grinned, her teeth flashing brighter than the glitter on her dress. “Must be,” she agreed. Her smile softened as she turned to Lance once the policeman left. “Thank you, Lance.”

“You’re welcome, but I think we really need a vaca--”

Katie tugged him down and kissed him. He heard a few stragglers from the audience whistle - they’d be talking about this magic show for  _ years _ ! - but he ignored them, instead wrapping his arms around Katie and pulling her closer.


End file.
